Holiday Pattern
Many of us love decorating for holidays, but do you know where these traditions come from?
Easter, as we know it today, combines ancient pagan spring equinox celebrations with the Jewish Passover. Early Christians didn’t celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, but over time, the two events were merged.
Halloween originated over 2,000 years ago with the Celts, who believed that as autumn ended and winter began, the boundary between the living and the dead blurred. Druids lit bonfires and made sacrifices to appease the gods and ask for good fortune. When the Romans conquered Celtic lands, they merged Samhain with their own festival for honoring the dead.
Christmas began as a pagan winter solstice celebration, marking the return of the sun. The Romans celebrated Saturn and Mithra during this time, and when the Christian Church adopted these traditions, December 25th became the date for celebrating the birth of Jesus, transforming the season into a Christian holiday.
